Does ‘brain training’ work?
Computer based ‘brain training’ can boost memory and thinking skills in older adults, but many programs promoted by the $1 billion brain training industry are ineffective, reveals new research by the University of Sydney.
Published yesterday in PLoS Medicine, the study shows that engaging older adults computer based cognitive training (also known as brain training) can lead to improvements in memory, speed, and visuospatial skills. However, it has no impact on attention or executive functions such as impulse control, planning and problem solving.
Brain training (computerised cognitive training, CCT) is a procedure for enhancing memory and thinking skills by practicing mentally challenging exercises on computer.
With dementia predicting to engulf more than 100 million people across the globe by 2050, reducing incidence of dementia is of ever increasing importance.
Promising new evidence now indicates that engaging in challenging mental activities can help maintain cognition and lower the risk of dementia. In response, a lucrative brain training industry has quickly developed, tapping into the anxieties of baby boomers now entering retirement age and eager to start activities that protect their brains.
This new research by the Regenerative Neuroscience Group at the Brain and Mind Research Institute (BMRI) reveals that engaging in group based brain training under the supervision of a trainer is effective at improving performance on a range of cognitive skills in healthy older adults.
By contrast, self directed brain training at home had no therapeutic effect on cognition.
“Our results send a key message to the public,” says group leader, Associate Professor Michael Valenzuela.
“They show that brain training carried out in a centre can improve cognition in older adults, but commercial products promoted for solo training use at home just don't work. There are better ways to spend your time and money,” he says.
The research team combined outcomes from 51 randomised clinical trials, including almost 5,000 participants, using a mathematical approach called meta-analysis.
“This is a very large number of clinical trials and the results were conclusive,” says Associate Professor Valenzuela.
“We now understand how to prescribe brain training based on the highest standards of medical evidence.”
Part of this prescription is the frequency of training, also identified as an important factor.
Lead author of the study, Dr Amit Lampit, of the BMRI, says training one to three times a week was effective, but training more than this neutralised any cognitive benefits.
“The brain's plastic mechanisms may saturate if training is too frequent. Like strenuous physical exercise, we recommend at least one rest day between training sessions,” Dr Lampit says.
Associate Professor Valenzuela emphasises that is it important to put the results in perspective:
“Modest gains are to be expected. This is not a magic bullet and we still don't know if this type of activity can prevent or delay dementia. Much more research is needed,” he says.
